Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease)
November 04, 2008 - Three members of the Senate Commerce Committee sent a strongly worded letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday, urging that a vote on sweeping changes to the telecom industry be postponed until the plan can be examined by the public and some consensus is developed.
The letter, signed by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), is the fourth from Senate Commerce Committee members. All four letters have urged greater transparency before such dramatic change is adopted.
Yesterday, Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX), the ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, also sent a letter to the FCC, saying it should open the process for public comment before voting. “Given the importance of reform to consumers and the economic significance to the affected parties, fundamental fairness suggests that the public at least have the chance to read the full proposed order prior to Commission consideration,” said Barton.
In all, 31 Senators and 78 members of the House of Representatives have signed letters in the past 10 days, virtually all urging that the FCC slow down, open its plan to the public, and postpone the November 4th vote.
Curt Stamp, President of The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance (ITTA) and member of the Coalition for Affordable Communications, expressed his gratitude when learning of Congressman Barton and Senators Snowe, McCaskill, and Klobuchar’s position on the FCC’s proposed order: “We continue to be supportive of reasonable, comprehensive intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform, but for this reform to be meaningful, potentially affected parties should have the opportunity and the proper amount of time to review the proposal and provide thorough comment.
“The letters from Senators Snowe, McCaskill, and Klobuchar and Congressman Barton – as well as the more than 100 other Members of Congress who have weighed in on this issue – speak to the troublesome aspects of the Commission’s draft order, which should not move forward before it can be reviewed in its entirety. Clearly, they understand the implications of this proposed plan for rural consumers. We would like to express our appreciation to the Members of Congress for recognizing the importance of these issues.”
In their letter, Senators Snowe, McCaskill and Klobuchar said, “The Federal Administrative Procedures Act (APA) requires agencies to provide for public participation in the rulemaking process through adequate notification and the opportunity for interested parties to provide comment. It is clear that the FCC process with this ICC and USF reform falls short of what is required. And using a notice – issued over four months ago – to refresh the record for twelve open dockets as the underpinning for adhering to the APA meets neither the spirit nor purpose of the law.”
The Senators went on to say, “There is no question that comprehensive reform is required for both ICC and USF since they are becoming increasingly archaic, overly complex, and must better reflect new technologies, such as broadband. However, we have deep reservations with the process that the FCC is following and the lack of detail available regarding the proposal that is being considered. It could dramatically change the landscape of the telecommunications industry. It would be negligent on the FCC’s part to introduce such regulatory uncertainty when the country is facing such uncertain times.”
Postponing the vote at the FCC has garnered wide-spread support from thousands of consumers who have registered their concern directly with the FCC; the nation’s leading consumers groups, including AARP, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer’s Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Rural Telecommunications Alliance; the largest union representing telecommunications employees, the Communications Worker of America (CWA); the state regulators as represented by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC); numerous governors including the National Governors Association (NGA) and hundreds of other consumer and business organizations.
The Coalition for Affordable Communications is a group of rural phone and broadband providers concerned with ensuring that American consumers and businesses continue to enjoy affordable telephone and broadband service. The CAC includes CenturyTel, Consolidated Communications, Embarq, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, Iowa Telecom and Windstream Communications, who collectively serve more than 17 million customers in 42 states. Please visit www.StoptheFCCvote.org for more information.
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